CLARIFICATION: July 6, 2012AB2357 proposes to have Wesley Shermantine temporarily released into investigators' custody under heavy guard to help in the search for the remains of his victims. Shermantine and Loren Herzog, who hanged himself in January, engaged in a killing spree in the 1980s and 90s. The print and initial online version of this story contained incomplete information.

Galgiani's tightly drafted bill withdraws that authority on Jan. 1, 2013, and allows Shermantine's release only to help in finding evidence and victims' remains.

The pending legislation would make it clear that Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate has the authority to release Shermantine to help, said state Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara.

Searchers found hundreds of bone fragments in a well near Linden earlier this year based on maps Shermantine drew inside his San Quentin prison cell directing them to what he described as "Loren's boneyard."

Shermantine blames Herzog for the killing spree, while Herzog maintained Shermantine was responsible for the deaths.

In February, authorities found the remains of Cyndi Vanderheiden, 25, who disappeared in 1998, and Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler, 16, who disappeared in 1985, when they searched a remote Calaveras County property once owned by Shermantine's family.

Shermantine was arrested in 1999 after his car was repossessed and investigators found Vanderheiden's blood in the trunk. He was convicted of both murders in 2001. He also was convicted of robbing and killing two drifters near Stockton.

Jeffrey Callison, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said he could not comment on the pending legislation.

Galgiani said, "I can empathize with families who have never known what happened to their loved one. Anytime a case like the Herzog-Shermantine case comes up, families will always wonder if their loved one might be a victim until they have closure."